Communications

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

1) Copies of the images contained on the negatives which were recovered from a passenger who was on board Spirit Airline Flight 460 on August 23, 2001, and was submitted to the FBI Laboratory on March 12, 2002 and March 26, 2002 and are now specimens under laboratory numbers 02313019 HC HD and 020328252 HC HD.

2) All communication between the person who submitted the pictures which are now specimens under laboratory numbers 02313019 HC HD and 020328252 HC HD and the FBI.

3) All pictures of Mohamed Atta in any FBI file taken between January 1, 2001 and September 11, 2001.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

The FBI has received your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy (FOIPA) request and it will be forwarded to Initial Processing for review. Your request will be processed under the provisions of FOIPA and a response will be mailed to you at a later date.

Requests for fee waivers and expedited processing will be addressed once your request has been assigned an FOIPA request number. You will receive written notification of the FBI’s decision.

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

I appeal. I requested the following:1) Copies of the images contained on the negatives which were recovered from a passenger who was on board Spirit Airline Flight 460 on August 23, 2001, and was submitted to the FBI Laboratory on March 12, 2002 and March 26, 2002 and are now specimens under laboratory numbers 02313019 HC HD and 020328252 HC HD.

2) All communication between the person who submitted the pictures which are now specimens under laboratory numbers 02313019 HC HD and 020328252 HC HD and the FBI.

3) All pictures of Mohamed Atta in any FBI file taken between January 1, 2001 and September 11, 2001.

I appeal because: (a) Only item 3 is referenced in the denial letter, it seems as though records mentioned in #1 and #2 were not searched for.(b) The existence of these records is clear as they are referenced in other previously released records.(c) The records mentioned in item #1 cannot be found by doing a google search nor can they be found on the exhibits page from the information provided.(d) I have requested more than just the photographs, even if the photographs requested in #1 are posted somewhere online, I wish to see them in their proper context, i.e., how do I know what picture is cited as "02313019 HC HD" unless the FbI provides the record in its proper context?(e) all other reasons deemed appropriate by the appeals authority.

A Vaughn Index is a document that agencies prepare to justify each withholding of information under a FOIA exemption. The term arose from a case captioned Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977 (1974), in which the court required such an index to determine the validity of the agency’s withholdings in the case.

I appeal the withholding of documents responsive to this request. Mohamed Atta is dead and is not under investigation. 9/11 was over 12 years ago and will surely always be of interest to law enforcement, however, after 12 years the interest in public knowledge far out ways any law enforcement value of secrecy. Further, the existence of the records in question has already been made known through earlier release of FBI documents via FOIA. The admission of the existence of a picture including the description of it and the picture itself is of minor consequence. Finally, it is reasonable to expect some segregable portion of the records to be available even if there is a legitimate (b)(7) exemption to a portion of them.

For the above reasons and all others deemed appropriate by the appeals authority, I appeal.

If you are not satisfied with the results of your request you may file an appeal with the Office of Information Policy (OIP), United States Department of Justice. Please follow the instructions below when submitting your appeal to OIP.

Your appeal must be received by OIP within sixty (60) days from the date of your letter in order to be considered timely. The envelope and the letter should be clearly marked, “Freedom of Information Appeal.” Please cite the FOIPA Request Number assigned to your request so that it may be indentified easily.

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #AP-2014-00577.

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #AP-2014-00577.

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #AP-2014-00577.